This invention relates to the attachment of wheels, towing, and accessory devices to small pontoon watercraft having an interconnecting boat frame structure with multiple transverse and longitudinally oriented frame members between spaced apart pontoons, to increase the transportability and utility of the watercraft.
Small pontoon watercraft, such as inflatable pontoon fishing boats, are plentiful, lightweight, economical, and very practical for the recreational user. They are used on a variety of waterways including: lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans, and though they are relatively light, they are bulky and not easily carried by one person, especially with the addition of any gear, equipment and supplies. Therefore, they are usually conveyed to the water's edge by automobile or the combination of automobile and trailer.
Transportation of small watercraft to the water by automobile is burdensome for a number of reasons, such as: preparation of the vehicle and the watercraft for transport, water access by the vehicle, terrain, available parking, and distance to the water. First, to convey to the water by automobile, the vehicle as well as the boat, gear, equipment and supplies must be readied, loaded into or onto a vehicle, and secured for transport. This may require added equipment and reconfiguration of the vehicle and possibly even some disassembly of the watercraft to make it ready for travel. Second, the desired water entry point must be accessible by the vehicle. Third, there must be parking at the water's edge at the exact point of entry, or the boat, gear, equipment and supplies will have to be dropped at the water's edge and the vehicle moved to a suitable parking location. In such a case, the driver would have to leave the boat and gear unattended by the water's edge and walk back to the boat from the vehicle after it is parked.
Similarly, conveying small watercraft by combination of automobile and trailer is even more burdensome and likely more expensive than with just an automobile, as it requires additional cost, time and effort to acquire the trailer, store it, maintain it, and retrieve it for the same purpose and with the same burdens listed above for transporting by automobile.
Conventional transportation with automobile and trailer seems very impractical for such small watercraft, especially when the distance to the water is very short. The nature of small boats implies an economy of not only price and size, but also economy of time and effort. It seems reasonable to expect a proportional amount of effort relative to the size of the boat and the distance to the water. Reasonableness suggests that if the trip itself, either by walking or by bicycle, is shorter than the time it would take to load, transport by automobile, and then unload the watercraft at the water's edge, then a portage solution by pedestrian or bicycle should be available, allowing quicker and easier access to the water without the use of a vehicle.
The notion of economy of time and effort relative to the distance from the water is particularly evident when small boat owners live, vacation or camp near the water. For example, many small boat owners live in communities near the water and merely desire to transport their craft a very short distance across their property, down the street, or through the neighborhood. Or a camper may only have need to move their watercraft a short distance from the camp site to the water, but readying the watercraft and vehicle for a short trip could take as much time and effort as a very long trip. Such short trips make the time spent readying the watercraft for transport disproportionately inconvenient and troublesome compared to the actual short trip itself. Even the trip from a truck or trailer parked near the water, often a matter of just a few feet, can be just as big of a challenge as if it were much longer, as it is not desirable to drag the watercraft over land for any distance at all, especially if the craft is inflatable and the terrain is treacherous.
Prior art reveals a variety of efforts to try to improve the ease and efficiency of transporting small watercraft by pedestrian or bicycle over land by attaching wheels and towing attachments to various types of small watercraft, including: canoes, kayaks, surfboards, sailboards, amphibious watercycles, small monohull boats, and small pontoon boats.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,239, issued to Whitney (1981), reveals a dolly for a catamaran held in place under the catamaran hulls by a flexible line attached to the watercraft for hand towing by pedestrian. This system does not appear to offer a sturdy and reliable connection, especially when changing direction, nor does it have a solution for connecting to a bicycle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,441, issued to Granbery (1993), shows a sailboard towing device attachable to a bicycle using the sailboard and mast as part of the trailer device assembled with a wheel system coupled to it in a dolly fashion. This apparatus is specifically tailored to watercraft of similar design with a mast and monohull to be used as part of the trailering system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,259, issued to Castillo (1996), demonstrates a narrow, single wheel trailer apparatus pulled behind a bicycle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,774, issued to White (1998), displays a trailerable amphibious bicycle with retractable wheels that is powered and trailered by the same bicycle. U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,079, issued to Smidt (2000), discloses a folding pontoon boat with removably attachable wheels on either side for portage by hand. U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,570 B1, issued to Johnson (2002), describes an attachable portage apparatus for a lightweight pontoon watercraft having a central frame, where a single removable wheel is attached to a central strut mounted to the central frame of the watercraft and is maneuvered over land by hand in wheelbarrow fashion. Johnson teaches away from attaching multiple wheels citing the single wheel design as an advantage to movement over uneven ground. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,817 B1, issued to Scadden (2006), exhibits a pontoon float boat with a single removable wheel fixed to a receiver on the platform structure between the floats for movement of the craft over land, also in a wheelbarrow fashion. While Johnson and Scadden have similar removably attached single wheel assemblies, Johnson uses a removably attached central strut mounted to the boat frame, while Scadden permanently mounts a single receiver to the boat platform structure intermediate between the floats. Neither would offer the balance of a multiwheel system.
In conclusion, in so far as I am aware, no apparatus or system formerly developed allows for the attachment of multiple devices, simultaneously, in various locations and configurations to small pontoon watercraft.